The Marauders and The Beginning Of a War
by Just a Random Hufflepuff
Summary: It's the year 1970 and Voldemort's war against the world is about to begin. The world of wizards is experiencing some dramatic changes that are just a taste of what's going to happen next. Shielded from all this darkness four boys (James, Sirius, Peter and Remus) are about to begin their new lives at Hogwarts, a place that's supposed to be a safe heaven for every magical child.
1. A meeting of three quarters

**A Meeting of 3/4**

James Potter woke up without his mother's help that morning, something like that rarely happened. But that day was entirely different from any other day in James' life. It was September and he was finally going to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. The eleven year old boy could hardly contain his enthusiasm for the entire month of August which had now reached a boiling point. He let out a scream of enthusiasm as he opened the door to the kitchen half-dressed, with his hair being a complete mess –as usual. In the kitchen his mother was standing beside the table with a worried expression on her face and his father was sitting on a chair reading the Daily Prophet. As soon as the boy walked in his mother snatched the paper from his father's hands and tossed it across the room with a flick of her wand. James managed to make out the world "attack" on the cover before the paper was out of sight. His father groaned in protestation but his wife ignored him and addressed James.

"What was all that howling about? You'd think we're raising a werewolf!" She said while trying to flatten his hair. James looked admittedly a lot like his mother; his face was all angles and his nose was straight and long. He had however what his mother called "The Potter Curse" referring to the untamed black mess that was his hair.

His father laughed kindly "Oh come on Dorea darling, the boy has every right to be excited! It's his first day at Hogwarts."

Dorea Potter sighed and gave up on her attempt of fixing her son's hair. "I know Charles, I just wish he wouldn't scare the neighbors" She then proceeded on serving breakfast as James took his seat beside his father barely able to remain still. In his mind he was already making a list of things to do once he found himself in Hogwarts, once he found himself in Gryffindor.

He knew where he belonged since he was eight years old. His father always called him a lion because he was obviously braver than any wizard kid they knew. James always wanted to go further, to see more and he didn't care what danger he had to put himself into to get there. He was always keen to save a damsel in distress or a poor starving cat. Incidentally that was also his first magic. He made a small cat levitate and brought her down from the place she was trapped. Soon he had become obsessed with everything that was related with Godric Gryffindor, the founder of _his_house.

"So tell me son," Charlus Potter said looking up from his round glasses "are you nervous?"

"Of course not" James lied with a wide smile on his face.

He heard his mother's ironic laughter. She could always see right through him. "Oh please! I think he might explode. And I don't even want to think what will happen if he doesn't end up in Gryffindor."

James didn't want to think about that either. Truth is that behind all this bravery and chivalry James was also awfully ambitious and was often thinking that he was indeed much better than everyone else. Those were both Slytherin traits and also his mother's. Dorea Black was a Slytherin when she was in school just like the rest of her family and even though she wasn't quite on speaking terms with them anymore she still had the Black character. James had always admired his mother because she was a powerful and independent woman of strong character but everyone said he resembled more to his father. He had a Gryffindor's heart and he was sure of it. He was more a lion than a snake.

"Do you think we're going to be late?" James said starring anxiously at the clock and causing both his parents' laughter.

…

A long way from the Potters a boy, locked up in a big room in Grimmauld place, was having a very different morning. The day that was currently dawning on him seemed at the same time daunting and liberating. He was going to leave his family behind. His infuriating mother, this palace of dust and darkness and his spoilt brother…all would be gone in a few hours. But he would be forced to live with other people exactly like them. Other _Slytherins._Sirius grimaced while thinking of the word. His mother always pronounced it with pride and pomposity.

_"At last you will learn some manners! You will learn how to behave like a true pureblood and stop embarrassing me"_ If someone heard his mother talking he would probably picture Sirius as some sort of uncivilized brute. He was just different. Different from his mother and father, his uncles and cousins. He couldn't care less about his pureblood status. Sirius was constantly seeking adventure and new experiences. He had made multiple muggle friends and he showed-off with his _magic tricks._He had performed all his first magic out in the streets, so much that his mother doubted he even was a wizard at first.

"But I caused a fire!" Or "I levitated a car!" Sirius would protest during family meals.  
His mother would just ignore him. It wasn't until a big fight started between them that Sirius proved himself a wizard.

Walburga Black was having one of her world-famous hysterics while Orion, Sirius' father, was sitting behind his office probably devising the next tyrannical law he was going to propose. Regulus was hiding behind their father's chair to protect himself from the screaming. The reason behind that evening's hysterics was that Sirius was found playing with a non-magical band of kids. His mother was wailing and screaming and accusing Sirius of being a family disappointment until suddenly Sirius screamed "FOR MERLIN'S SAKE STOP IT!" and quite unexpectedly…she did. Walburga Black was standing in the middle of the candle-lit living room for once completely silent. Her eyes were throwing thunders and her hands were clutching her neck. Sirius laughed and then ran to his room and locked bedroom the door before his mother could find her wand. The spell, if one can call first-magic a spell, lasted for two days. It was the best weekend of Sirius' life.

Sirius was now in a seriously bad mood and on top of that he was going to miss the train if he didn't leave now. He got up and dressed in the dark. Then he dragged his heavy truck out in the hallway until he reached the top of the stairs. There he stopped for a bit considering the possibilities. He smiled before giving his truck a big push sending it tumbling down the stairs causing a noise that could wake up a sleeping ogre. He heard his mother scream from the bedroom and his father moan. The next moment she was standing right next to him.

"YOU ARE GOING TO WAKE UP REGULUS YOU DEMON!" his mother said at the highest possible voice she could achieve.

"Oh we wouldn't want Regulus to be deprived of his beauty-sleep. I'm sorry. But I bet you can lull him to sleep with all that lovely screaming." Sirius said with a smirk.

His mother ignored him as usual "KREATCHER" she screamed and half-a-second later their annoying house-elf appeared in front of Sirius with a loud c_rack_.

"What has the nasty boy done to irritate my lovely mistress?" He said shooting a dirty look towards Sirius.

"I'm just trying to get out of here. Go to Hogwarts. Be a true member of the Black family tree. Remember mother?" He said as ironically as he possibly could. Of course irony usually went right over the head of Walburga Black.

"Exactly so. Kreatcher, take him and his truck to the station." She turned her gaze to Sirius. "Write to me as soon as you get in Slytherin. Try not to embarrass our family. If you can."

She then turned away towards Regulus' room who was currently yelling _mummy_. Sirius felt embarrassed for his brother and remembered with regret the countless times he tried to bring him on his side.

Kreatcher disappeared and reappeared with Sirius' truck on his boney hand. He grasped Sirius leg just as he was starting to protest. "But I haven't eaten-." His protest was cut short as he and the house-elf were apparating. He felt as though he was being scattered into a million pieces and everything around him was a blur. Suddenly he was on his knees in a train station. It was a good thing he hadn't eaten because his stomach was trying to escape his body. _That bloody elf!_He turned to hit Kreatcher or at least curse him but there was no one beside him. He had probably returned to the manor just in time to make breakfast for Regulus.

Some minutes later Sirius had stormed through the platform and got himself on _Hogwarts Express. One step closer to the green nightmare of being a true Black._ He wandered what would happen to him once he got into Slytherin, would they brainwash him to believe all that muggle-fearing nonsense. He wandered if he would ever see John again, a muggle boy from his neighborhood. Probably not since his mother had used the memory spell on him once she figured just how much Sirius had shared with him and that he was in fact a muggle. It was too bad. Sirius had a blast convincing his mother that John was from a long line of wizards and had just moved back in London from Australia because they heard that the English were getting rid of the muggleborns. Was he going to forget Johnny? Was he going to hate him like his parents hated all the muggles? Sirius shivered at the idea and made a promise that he would do everything he could to resist. He would burn the house down if he had to.

He found a compartment that was almost empty there was just a black-haired boy sitting there and since he seemed nothing like his family and he had never seen him before in his life Sirius decided he seemed okay. He opened the door and the boy looked up. He smiled and nodded and Sirius nodded back.

"I'm James" the boy said.

"Sirius" He wouldn't give his last name even if he was forced.

"Nice!" James said in appreciation. Of what? His name? Seriously?

"Oh you're reading the prophet?" Sirius said. His family never bought it. It was very bellow the Black status to care about what was happening in the world apparently.

"Yeah I managed to hide it from my mother. She doesn't want me reading it. She thinks I might get scared" James said while rolling his eyes to show just how ridiculous his mother's assumption was.

"Are you done with it?" Sirius asked.

"Oh yes, sure! You can have it, there's nothing new anyway…Just last week's attacks. Over-analyzed." James said handing him the paper. On the front page was Eldritch Diggory, the current Minister of Magic. Complaining about the auror department. He had an angry look on his face and was frantically waving his arms to the photographers.

"Wow what is that?" He heard James saying. He looked up and found the boy looking at his jacket. Inside it was a muggle magazine for football, a gift from John. Sirius explained to James what it was along with what football was and gave the magazine to him. He starred fascinated at the pictures expecting for them to move at any second. That of course didn't happen.

Moments later both boys were so emerged into their reading and hardly even flinched when the door of their compartment burst open. James was the first to look up. It was a red-headed girl. A red-headed crying girl. Sirius met James' gaze. He seemed quite dazzled. When he was sure that the girl wasn't looking he mouthed to Sirius "She's cute" but judging that it would be rude to talk to her while she was crying he returned to his acquaintance with football. After five minutes, when she had finally stopped crying and James was obviously ready to introduce himself the door opened again.

In came a thin boy with long greasy black hair already wearing the school uniform. He looked at the girl as if she was the reason of his existence. Sirius shot a glance at James who sighed, shrugged and returned to the magazine without really reading this time.

"I don't want to talk to you" The girl said, her voice constricted.

"Why not?" asked the boy with the greasy hair.

"Tuney h-hates me. Because she saw that letter from Dumbledore"

"So what?" The boy said. Sirius thought that whoever Tuney was the greasy hair guy didn't like her at all.

"So she's my sister!"

"She's only a-." A muggle. Oh the girl was muggleborn Sirius liked her better already. He didn't like the greasy guy, a Slytherin obviously. He felt a bit guilty about eavesdropping. He glanced at James who was also paying attention to the conversation and immediately felt better.

"But we're going! This is it! We're off to Hogwarts!" The greasy guy exclaimed causing Sirius to grimace and James to smile. The girl sitting beside James was also smiling despite her red eyes.

"You'd better be in Slytherin" said the boy enthusiastically.

Sirius' sarcastic snort wasn't heard because James decided it was the perfect moment to intrude.

"Slytherin?" James said like he could hardly speak the word. "Who wants to be in Slytherin? I think I'd leave, wouldn't you?" He asked Sirius.

Sirius stared back at James gravely. He didn't want to be in Slytherin, he wanted to be a decent person he wanted to change his family…but he couldn't. "My whole family has been in Slytherin" he admitted.

James was completely shocked. "Blimey, and I thought you seemed alright."

Sirius grinned at that. The thought that James had found him alright made him hopeful. "Maybe I'll break the tradition" Along with my mother's nerves, he thought to himself. "Where are you heading if you've got the choice?"

James answered while lifting an invisible sword. "'Gryffindor where dwell the brave at heart!' Like my dad" James said proudly thinking about the letter he was going to send to his dad when he got in. _IF_he got in he forced himself to think.

The boy with the long black hair made a noise and James snapped. "Got a problem with that?" He asked obviously infuriated.

"No." Said the other boy sneering "If you'd rather be brawny than brainy –."

Sirius decided it was time to stand up for James. He was pissing off Slytherins every day, this should be easy. "Where're you hoping to go, seeing as you're neither?"

James laughter filled the small room. The girl sitting beside him stood up, her red hair matched her face now. "Come on Severus, let's find another compartment."

"Ooooo…" said James and Sirius at the same time. "Come on Seeeeverus" Sirius said imitating her.

"Let's find another compartment." James completed and they both started laughing. Severus and his bossy friend left the compartment as Sirius called out "See ya, Snivellus" causing James to start laughing again.

When they managed to stop laughing James said. "I think you are definitely going to break tradition."

"Shh, if my mother hears you she's going to bring me back and lock me in the basement with the house-elf." Sirius joked.

"If you're from a long line of Slytherins you're probably a pureblood right? What's your last name?"

"Black" Sirius said trying to stop himself from grimacing.

"No kidding!" James exclaimed. "My mother's a Black. Dorea Black, heard of her?"

"Nah, it's a huge family tree. My mother tried to make me study it but I zoned out every time she talked about the 'House of Black'" He said mimicking his mother's voice.

"Ha! Well if your folks are as bad as you make them sound I can see why my own mother wants nothing to do with them."

"Was she in Gryffindor?" Sirius asked hopeful that one Black escaped.

"No…" James said reluctantly. "She was in Slytherin. Dad says she was just like everyone else in the house for the first two years but then she met a muggle-girl on vacation and realized how irrational it was to hate them. Anyway…everyone always said that I might have my mother's face but I have my father's heart, the heart of a lion." James said proudly trying to vanquish any shadow of doubt in his mind. He was going to be a Gryffindor.

"So I guess we're cousins?" Sirius said laughing.

James smiled widely. "It would seem so. Good to meet you cousin"

"You too cousin."

Few minutes and a lot of laughing later James heard Sirius' stomach growling like an angry dog.

"Wow man, were they even feeding you? Forget it don't want to know" he said and stood up "I'm going to find us something to eat. My treat!" he added when Sirius started digging through his pockets.

James opened the compartment door and followed the stream of students who were obviously searching for the food too. He did find it in the end and purchased double quantity of all his favorites. On his way back to the compartment he saw many familiar faces that he greeted warmly and then suddenly a few meters before he reached the door he tripped and found himself on the floor surrounded by chocolate frogs and every-flavor-beans. He stood up and searched for the obstacle responsible for his ridicule. He found a short blond boy with freckles sitting on the floor against the wall. The boy starred up at James and stuttered an apology.

"Bloody hell! What are you doing on the floor mate?" James said as he started picking up the food he'd bought for Sirius and himself.

"I was just…I couldn't find a compartment." The boy said standing up. "I'm Peter. Pettigrew"

"James Potter" said James extending his hand for a handshake. "And there are plenty compartments. Mine is right over there. And it's almost empty. Want to join?"

The boy nodded shyly and picked up his things. Sirius was quite happy to see the food and greeted Peter eagerly while eating two chocolate frogs at once. Peter turned out to be a pureblood too and when they asked him in which house he'd rather be he said Hufflepuff.

"My parents were both in Ravenclaw. But Hufflepuff seems much easier. Much more me." James and Sirius both understood what he meant and went on speaking about Quidditch teams, muggles and Daily Prophet's headlines. The hours passed quickly and soon it was time to put on their robes. By then all three of them had forgotten their doubts and stress, their family history and anything unpleasant.


	2. Sorted

Finally the train stopped but the three boys only barely noticed as they were completely immerged in their conversation. Peter was currently explaining to Sirius and James the most "cool" uses of various potions.  
"Man," said James looking out the window "I think we're here. You have to tell me more about explosives during lunch sometime."  
Sirius agreed smiling mischievously while thinking how he was going to use the potions Peter had just described to have an interesting summer with his family.  
Once out of the train they hurried over the place where all the first-years were gathered listening to the biggest person that any of the boys had ever seen before. James' eyes went wild! He started to push his way to the front of the group.  
"…am the keeper of the keys at Hogwarts." The giant was saying in a hoarse but happy voice.  
" I'm sorry sir" James said politely. "Do you mind repeating your name? I couldn't listen before."  
The man burst out laughing and it sounded like the noise of the train against the metal railings.  
"Sir 'e says" he said between storms of laughter. Finally he managed to contain himself with a deep breath. "Rubeus Hagrid!" He announced. "And as I said I am the keeper of the keys at Hogwarts". He patted James' head with a hand that was way bigger than the boy's scalp. "Now follow me! Let's take ya lot to the school."  
James smiled widely and turned to his new friends. Sirius' face was a mix of glee and excitement and Peter was still focused on the huge figure of Rubeus Hagrid. Everyone followed the giant excitedly and after a turn the castle was finally visible.

Hogwarts resembled a painting of black on a deep blue canvas. The presence of magic was evident around the building. Sirius could feel it on his skin like a light breeze and in his bones like an earthquake. This was like nothing he'd ever seen before. The fear of what was expecting him inside the walls of this castle still lingered in his brain but at that moment he couldn't quite feel it.  
Hagrid allowed them some moments of admiration before guiding them to the edge of the dark lake where some small wooden boats were waiting to take them to the castle. The boys got in one of the boats together with a dark haired girl and a pale boy. While everyone else had their eyes glued to the castle in front of them Peter was leaning over the edge of the boat starring inside the black water.  
"There's a giant squib somewhere in there. My mom told me so." He informed James and Sirius without looking at them. "I think I can see it!" He leaned over a bit more and suddenly something did come out of the water with a big splash. It was the edge of the squib's tentacle. Peter was so excited he almost fell over and was only saved from Sirius' grasp.  
"Did you see it?!" Peter screamed excitedly.  
"You mean if we saw you almost falling over?" said James smiling, patting him on the back.  
The boats slid rapidly across the rest of the lake and after few minutes they found themselves before the main entrance. A tall woman with a dark blue cloak and a matching hat met them was standing in front of them.  
"Professor McGonagall" Peter whispered.  
The woman confirmed this statement. "Hello first-years my name is Minerva McGonagall and I will be teaching the class of Transformation. As some of you may know right behind me is the main hall where the sorting ceremony will take place. During the ceremony I will call your names in alphabetical order. To determine your house you will be asked to wear the Sorting Hat upon your heads. There are four Houses in this school; there's Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw and Slytherin. During the school year your house will be your family. Each house has a chance at the House Cup which is awarded at the end of each school year. First years can win points by behaving well and doing well in classes while you will lose points by rule-breaking and general misbehaving. Are we clear?"  
Everyone uttered a breathless 'yes' and professor McGonagall opened the big wooden doors with a flick of her wand and led them across various hallways to the main hall. The excitement rose again as the children gazed at the hall's ceiling.  
"It is enchanted to look like the real sky" Peter informed the other two. "Or so my mum said."  
"Merlin Peter! We can see that!" said Sirius laughing, his eyes fixed on the candles that were floating in the, seemingly, roofless room. Older students, dressed with red, green, blue and yellow were pointing at them and laughing as if they were choosing favorites or even placing bets. Sirius looked at them in amusement while James and Peter ignored them and kept admiring the lifeless elements of the room.  
Finally the first-years formed a group around a tall chair with an old hat. To the surprise of everyone the hat was alive! Silence fell in the room and it started speaking , or rather, singing! The hat's song was about the history of Hogwarts and its four houses. It even made a small reference to the war with the dark side something that surprised everyone since the ministry refused to call the battle against the dark side a war thinking it would cause unnecessary panic.  
When the song ended everyone applauded. James was practically jumping up and down since the hat mentioned Godric Gryffindor.  
"Let the sorting ceremony begin!" said the man sitting on the center of the table he had a long silver beard and wore a bright pink cloak. All three of the boys recognized him as Albus Dumbledore, the headmaster of Hogwarts.

Names were being called. The reality of it all finally dawned upon Sirius. Every time the sorting hat yelled 'Slytherin' he felt sick from hatred. He looked at the boys and girls sitting around the Slytherin table and he decided there and then that he completely and utterly hated them. If he was to sit by their side he would also hate himself. He tried to concentrate on the names but he didn't manage. It seemed like a second had passed when he heard his own name pronounced clearly by professor McGonagall. He felt James touching his shoulder and he turned to see him smiling. He tried to smile black and failed completely.  
He walked until he reached the chair and sat. For a second he could feel his heart racing like a wild horse and all the people in the room became colors. Red, Blue, Yellow, Green. He was so overcome that the sudden blackness that came when Professor McGonagall placed the hat on his head was more than welcome. He took a deep breath and calmed himself down thinking about Peter and James looking at him.  
The hat whispered to him. _Ah! That is most peculiar._ _I remember every single Black who sat on this chair and never have I seen such thing. Such wild feelings! Such courage and curiosity and a thirst for adventure. No sign of the blind ambition that characterizes your family. You are the first black to be placed in _"GRYFFINDOR". The last word was said out loud and it caused an explosion of applauds. Sirius could see again. He could see the colors but this time he focused on red. Red everywhere. A red wave of relief washed over him and he felt happier than ever. Red was home. He saw James screaming on the front row and Peter laughing and cheering alongside him. He saw the older kids from the Gryffindor table waving. He shot a glance to the headmaster. When his bright blue eyes met Sirius' the old man raised his eyebrows and smiled kindly. Sirius hugged James and Peter before heading over to his house's table from where he would watch the rest of the ceremony feeling completely at peace. 

"I'm so happy that I'll be with Sirius. He seems like a neat guy. Don't know _why _he feared he was a Slytherin." James said and Peter agreed with all his heart.  
The sorting hat continued doing what it was supposed to do and Peter paid close attention trying to memorize some names in case he ended up in the same house with them. Everything seemed possible at the moment. Even Slytherin. Admittedly though he looked quite different from the kids that were sorted in Slytherin (who looked either scary or completely snob). He shifted his weight from his left foot to his right uncomfortably imagining the possibility of sitting on the other side of the room. Far from Sirius and James. After a bunch of names and houses Peter lost track of his thoughts and let his eyes wander in the room while Professor McGonagall called more and more first years.  
"Evans Lily" the woman called and Peter was forced to re-focus because of James' nudge.  
"Ouch" said Peter "What is it?"  
"It's the girl."  
"The girl." Peter repeated incomprehensively.  
"The ginger from the train. Snivellus' girlfriend! C'mon Peter I told you."  
"Oh right" He turned his attention to the girl that was currently being sorted. You could hardly see anything since the hat was covering half of her face but from her wide smile you could see she was enjoying the whole procedure.  
"GRYFFINDOR!" the hat called out. The announcement was followed not only by the well expected applaud from the Gryffindor table but also a moan (Peter couldn't see who did the moaning) and James' manic, almost evil, laughter. The girl, Lily, shot an apologetic look at someone and headed to the Gryffindor table. After that Peter dozed off again for several letters. On a moment of clarity he heard that a boy didn't make the ceremony for health reasons and would be sorted in privet later. The list went on M, N, O, P. Peter's thoughts were tangled between Lily Evans, the giant squib and the magic ceiling when James nudged him again.  
To his horror he heard McGonagall say "Mr. Pettigrew Peter!" with a tone that implied it had been said several times before that. Peter hurried towards her. Small giggles could be heard all around him. He flushed a bit but sat decidedly on the chair and saw James smiling at him from the crowd of first years and Sirius giving him a thumbs-up from the Gryffindor table.

Peter was sitting on the chair for quite some time. More than anyone else actually. James was starting to get worried but from the look on McGonagall's face he realized this was normal enough.  
"GRYFFINDOR" the hat finally said and the enthusiasm in James heart came out of his mouth in a big explosion of cheers and laughter. Quite unexpected. He made Peter for either a Ravenclaw or Hufflepuff. Definitely not a Slytherin; Peter was so sweet he could never be a deatheater. And as much as everyone tried to deny it most children from Slytherin chose to follow this 'career'. But the hat was always right.Peter belonged in Gryffindor. Just like James.  
_The hat is always right so it won't make the mistake of putting me in Slytherin. _James thought when his name was called and put on his brightest smile. He sat on the chair and waved at Peter and Sirius. Peter was sitting next to the girl from the train. Lily was it?  
He felt the hat touch the top of his head. _You are NOT putting me in Slytherin. _James thought as hard as he could.  
_Don't think so loud child. You don't want Slytherin but from what I see in your head…  
_James thought of Gryffindor. He thought of the name, of the house and of the crest. He was practically screaming in his head.  
_Oh stop it, stop it. SO headstrong and foolishly insistent. A GRYFFINDOR you are!  
_The house's name was spoken aloud and the applause was heard once more from the Gryffindor table. James laughed with all his heart and ran to his friends. He sat by Peter's side who hugged him. Sirius hi-fived him from across the table while Lily Evans, sitting on Peter's right side, chose to ignore him completely. He greeted some distant cousins of his like Alice Prewett who came to the Gryffindor table just after James. Alice was filled with enthusiasm and had a round face and bright eyes and talked to everyone with respect and admiration. Everyone seemed to like her, even Lily Evans who barely spoke to anyone before Alice came. She regarded James and Sirius with complete disgust. The condition was worsened when suddenly Sirius called out:  
"OH IT'S SNIVELLUS"  
Everyone turned to see the boy with the greasy black hair that was sitting on the high chair. He seemed utterly desperate. When the hat announced that 'Severus Snape' belonged in Slytherin the boy stood up and smiled weakly looking towards the place where James, Peter and Lily were sitting.

The feast began shortly after the ceremony ended and Sirius stuffed his face with anything that was close to him. It's not like his family starved him but he never got as much food as Regulus and even if he did he would never eat it. He despised his mother's cooking and often chose to eat with his muggle friends. He felt like the food in Hogwarts was so delicious that each bite made him want to eat more rather than satisfy his hunger.  
"I bet your mother won't like this." Said James in between bites.  
"I wander how to announce it. I can't quite put it in words. Let alone that she might think I'm just saying it to get on her nerves." Sirius answered thinking that it defiantly sounded like something he would do.  
"Oh I know" James said. He then proceeded into cutting part of the red and gold table cloth and handed it to Sirius. "You can even write on it. I'll even give you my owl if you promise me your mom won't curse it and feed it to the house-elf."  
"Sorry can't promise that. Neat idea though. I mean the table cloth, not Kreatcher eating your owl." Sirius said.  
"DESTRUCTION OF SCHOOL PROPRIETY. ALREADY! Oh Filch is going to love this." A ghost called above their heads and then hurried off, presumably to inform someone.  
"Peeves." James said "My dad told me about him. Mostly harmless, he said."  
"You might get in trouble though." Alice, the round faced girl, said looking warily towards the door of the main hall where Peeves danced around a weird looking man.  
"I think I can fix it." Said Peter taking out his wand. He pointed at the ripped table cloth and muttered "Reparo". The table cloth sewed itself, admittedly, badly and Peter starred at it for a second or two. When he looked up he seemed embarrassed. "I've seen my mother do this but I wasn't sure it would work. It would look a lot of better if I used the piece you ripped out."  
"It looks just fine Peter, that was awesome!" James said. Even Lily Evans looked impressed.  
Peter hid his wand hurriedly just in time a man arrived accompanied by the annoying ghost and a cat. Sirius wrinkled his nose. He had always been allergic to cats.  
To Peeves' great disappointment the man, Filch, could not punish them without some evidence –as much as he seemed to want to do it. He left the Great Hall along with his cat and Peeves went to terrorize other first-years.

When the plates seemed to empty Dumbledore stood up. Silence fell in the room and all eyes turned to the headmaster. Despite the peculiar choice of clothing Dumbledore inspired respect to everyone in the room. "I trust that you enjoyed your first meal for this school-year and first-years I hope that you are happy in your new families. Before the prefects of each house guide you to your dormitories it is my duty to inform you of some rules. In no way should you venture out of the castle during the hours of the night. The Forbidden Forest is, as the name suggests, forbidden. Not only for first years but everyone. Lastly, I would like to remind you that your house doesn't define everything. My friends once tried to convince me that because I have a beard I had to smoke with dragon flame. I ended up burning of half of my beard and it never was the same again."

"What was that all about?" James said as they stood up.  
"Deatheaters!" Peter answered sounding rather sure of himself.  
"His beard was burnt by deatheaters? I thought he said it was because he tried to light his pipe with dragon fire…" Sirius said.  
"It's a metaphor you walking brick!" Lily Evans said and passed him by while rolling her eyes. 

Some hours later all the boys were asleep on their beds and the night had come to an end for some time now. Sirius was fast asleep and in his dreams he was being hunted by Kreatcher who wanted to take him back in the Black Manor. He woke up as Kreatcher's boney fingers were being wrapped around his ankle.  
His eyes opened and he saw a tall shadow above his bed. He screamed and the shadow screamed back.


End file.
